MEANTIME
(Newvelle)
7.5 stars
What a way to launch a new label dedicated to high-end audio on vinyl! The sound! This is surely among the best recorded albums I have heard, but not in a clinical way. Turn this up, close your eyes, and the band is in the room, such is the dynamic range, accuracy and richness of the sounds.
Of course it would amount to a silk purse from a sow’s ear were the music no good. Despite having assembled a quintet pianist Frank Kimbrough keeps renditions of the mostly original songs to around five minutes, so they sound like fierce little distillations of ideas. Among the highlights are the quirky title track and the dream-like Elegy for PM, on which Andrew Zimmerman’s tenor saxophone just cries softly against the piano, and Chris Van Voorst Van Beest’s bass and RJ Miller’s drums are so minimal and grounded they sound like the earth itself is breathing. Most of the rest are more spirited, with contributions from trumpeter Riley Mulherker. Time to crank up the turntable.